For Once, For Awhile, For a Chance
by Chibi-Chi1
Summary: It starts out as Videl and Gohan, and ends as Trunks and Pan. Read and tell me what you think.


Disclaimer; You know the usual. I don't own DBZ and I don't expect to be sued for this.   
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Videl cautiously glanced around the wall before running towards the trees. Instinctively she checked the little girl that was tucked in her arms. She cuddled the 3-year-old to her as she reached the forest, and ran even harder. She stopped for only a moment to pull the hood of her cloak over her short, black hair. She heard distant hoof beats of a horse on the stone path behind her so she started running again, this time cutting through the trees and leaving the path. The horse was getting closer. Obviously whoever was following her had also left the path.   
Oh no, he's going to catch me.   
She looked down at the girl again, ' Don't worry Panny, I won't let him hurt you. He won't get you.'   
She slipped on a loose rock and twisted her ankle. Muffling a cry of pain, she ran on. She hadn't noticed that Pan had dropped her bear, when she tripped.   
By now the horse was very close. She turned her head slightly to see the silhouette of a tall man sitting on a horse. She couldn't tell if it was 'him' due to the total darkness. She quickly hid behind a rock, hoping that he hadn't seen her yet. Pan started crying in her mother's arms.   
' Bebe mumma, I dropped Bebe.'  
' Shhh. . . baby, shhh. . . '  
' Bebe. Mumma I want Bebe!'   
Rain started pouring down on them, and lighting and thunder spread through out the sky. Pan cried harder and harder, and Videl did her best to stifle the young girl's cries. A particularly bright bit of lighting struck, a Videl clearly saw the outline of a man, standing, four feet, and directly in front of her.   
Without a word, the man quickly reached down and gently pulled Pan form her mother's trembling arms. Videl, obviously expecting the worst and not knowing whom this man was, lunged at him. She beat weakly on the man's finely, muscled arm. He pulled his attention away from the child in his arms for a moment to turn to Videl. He grabbed her wrists gently and looked her in face. Lighting struck once again, and for a brief moment Videl was mesmerized by the intense blackness of his eyes.   
' Calm yourself. I shall not hurt her. You are safe, for the moment.'   
Videl was speechless. The man's voice seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't place it. It was like a distant memory that flashed for a moment, but disappeared almost instantly. She watched as he pulled something from under his cloak and handed it to Pan, who stopped crying immediately. Videl looked closer, and by some miracle Pan was holding her raggedy, old, brown bear, that she had had for as long as Videl could remember. Of course, ' he' had offered to buy her new toys. Dolls and such, that he thought little girls should be playing with. But Pan wouldn't give up her 'Bebe'. She would die without it.   
The man started walking again, leading his tired horse as he carried Pan in his arms, and Videl followed without any questions. They had walked for about fifteen minutes when Videl quietly asked, 'Who are you? I don't know your name.'  
He thought for a moment before answering, 'My name is Gohan. I run a band of thieves. I took over when my father died a year ago.'  
Again Videl had the feeling that she had heard the name Gohan before, but still she couldn't place it. It was so familiar. He seemed to bring comfort. She knew inside that she and Pan were safe with him, and she knew Pan felt it too.   
She (Pan) had fallen asleep in his arms, lulled by the steady rhythm of his walking. Videl herself was also feeling a bit tired, and she started to swerve a bit as she walked.   
'Don't worry, we'll be at camp soon. I'll find I bed for you to sleep in when we get there.'  
' A bed? But aren't I your prisoner?' Videl looked very confused.  
' You are but do you want to sleep on the ground? I can have you tied up if you'd prefer.'   
' Uh . . . No. I just thought that . . .'   
They walked in silence for a bit longer when Gohan asked, 'What are your names? You never told me.'   
Videl thought for a moment, I had better not tell him my real name, he might recognize it. But I guess it would be ok to tell him Pan's name.  
'My name is Beth, and my daughter's name is Pan.'  
He looked at her suspiciously, and for a moment Videl was afraid that he knew she was lying. 'Where is Pan's father? Surely he wouldn't have let you and her run around in the forest in the middle of night, not to mention in a storm.'   
' Pan's father is . . . dead.'   
' I'm sorry.'   
They finally reached the camp, which consisted of about 15- 20 medium sized tents surrounding one very large tent set up in the middle. Gohan showed her two beds where they could sleep, an as soon as Videl was sure Pan was fine she laid down and fell asleep, never even taking notice of her surroundings.   
Videl awoke to much chatter, and bright sunlight. For a moment she was confused about where she was. Why am I sleeping in cotton sheets, and not silk. What is that commotion that has awoken me so? What is with the bright light, where are my curtains?   
When she finally realized where she really was, she was both overjoyed and a bit scared as well. Now that we're safe and out of the rain, and have had our rest, what is he going to do with us? That reminds me, where is he?   
Her question was answered when about 30 seconds later, Gohan walked into the tent with Pan sitting on his shoulders and pulling at his spiky hair. Videl suddenly realized that Pan hadn't been beside her that whole time. But she wasn't scared for Pan. She, strangely enough, was very relived that Pan had been with Gohan.   
'So,' Gohan started, 'your finally awake.'   
'What do you mean finally?'   
' You've been sleeping for a day and a half. You had a fever for a while, but it didn't last very long, and now you've just been sleeping it off. I'm actually glad you woke up. I mean Pan is fun, but she is a major handful for a bunch of men.'   
' Why? Don't you have any women in the group?'   
' Of course not! We are thieves. We can't have women slowing us down.'   
' Women don't slow things down. We are the one's who carry the men. Without us, things are much more complicated. We can do a lot of things that men can't.'   
' Like what?' he asked, looking at her incredulously.   
' Like sewing for instance.'   
' What good will that do us. What are you gonna do? Make doilies?'   
' What if your clothes needed patching, or one of your tents ripped? What would you do?'   
' Why, we'd just steal more.'   
' Is that your answer for everything, just steal it?'   
' I said it before and I'll say it again. WE- ARE- THEIVES!!!'   
'Humph, you'd understand if you were a woman.'   
' Luckily, I'm not. Now get dressed. Pan wants to show you what she's learned while her 'mummy' was asleep.'   
Videl was just about to ask what she was supposed to wear but Gohan beat her to it.   
'There is a dress in that trunk over there. You can wear it. It should be just about your size.   
' But you said you don't have any women in the group. Where did you get a dress?'   
Gohan paused at the doorway to smirk at her, 'We stole it . . . '   
Videl looked in the Trunks that was near the end of her little bed. She found a plain, light orange, cotton dress, that coupled with a light blue apron, elaborately embroidered with little silver, crescent moons, around the hem. She also found a brush, which she quickly swept through her short hair.   
When she walked out of the tent, she was unprepared for what she saw, or more likely, didn't see. There wasn't a woman in sight, but there were men everywhere. Some of the men looked baffled at her. Like they had never seen a woman before, or like they were aliens. The other men looked hungrily at her. They must not have been around a woman in a long time.   
She found Gohan and Pan sitting near a fire, with a few other men, and boys. Pan was eating porridge out of a wooden bowl, and Gohan was eating a bit of bread. He was also talking to a young boy who looked about 10 or 11. The boy had lavender hair, and bright blue eyes. Listening a bit more closely to their conversation, she learned that his name was Trunks. Maybe for once Pan and I will be safe. Maybe for awhile, this will be our home, and they might become our family. Maybe we'll stay, for a chance.   
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A/N: I found this story saved on my computer. I had completely forgotten about it. I finished it off with a couple of lines, and added these authors' notes. I just wanted to get it off my computer. I had no idea what to name it, and I believe me I know how crappy the title is. Sorry I hardly even remember what this story was about. Please if you have a better name, send it in a review. Don't kill me for the title Nanc. 


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